Area-meter.



No. 674,953. Patented May 28, I90l. E. V. BEALS.

AREA METER.

(Application filed June 6,- 1900.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-.Sheet 1.

InvenZor.--

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No. 674,953. Patented May 28, I90l.

E. V. BEALS.

AREA METER.

(Application filed June 6, 1900.)

2 shaets sheet 2 (No Model.)

ilnrrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERL V. BEALS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

AREA-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,953, dated May 28,1901.

Application filed June 6, 1900.

To mZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ERL V. BEALS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Area-Meters,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for measuring the surface area of anyweb, such as a piece of leather or cloth.

Among the objects sought to be attained by the invention are simplicityof construction and certainty and delicacy of operation.

The invention consists in certain novel featu res of construction andarrangement, which I shall now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a front elevation ofa web-measuring machineconstructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 represents a planview thereof, partly broken away. Fig. 3 represents a right-hand endelevation. Fig. 4 represents an enlarged front elevation, partly brokenaway and in section, of the propelling-rolls and adjacent parts. Fig. 5represents a view in section and elevation and partly in diagram,showing the circuit arrangement. Fig. 6 represents an enlargedhorizontal section of a portion of the electromagnetic clutch. Fig. 7represents an enlarged vertical section thereof. Fig. 8 represents anenlarged section of a portion of the indicator.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of thefigures.

Heretofore it has been common in webmeasuring machines to employ aseries of rolls of predetermined circumference placed side by sideacross the machine or according to units of width and to rotate theserolls by the frictional passage of the web, the amount of rotation ofthe rolls included in the width of the web being summed up and indicatedon a dial as the area measurement of the web. I propose to depart fromthis arrangement and actuate the indicator positively or independentlyof the web as to units of length and to control said indicatorselectively as to units of width, and I am enabled to perform thisoperation most simply and effectively by the interposition of suitableelectrical devices acted on by the web and controlling said indicator.

Serial No- 19,257. illo modeLJ Referring to the drawings, 1 is the frameof the machine, and 2 is a web-propelling measuring-roll journaled insaid frame and made of an insulating substance, said roll having aseries of annular grooves 3 3, located at unit intervals along itslength. The roll 2 is rotated in a suitable manner, as by means of anelectric motor 4:, connected by gears 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 with the axle ofsaid roll.

10 is an opposed pressure-roll mounted in yielding bearings above thepropelling-r0112 and preferably geared to rotate at the same peripheralspeed as said roll. The surface of the roll 10 throughout its length ismade of a conductive material, such as brass, and is suitably insulatedfrom its shaft or axle, as represented in Fig. 4c.

11 11 are a series of spring contacts or brushes mounted in the grooves3 3 of the roll 2 and attached to an insulating base or beam 12. Theends of these brushes are normally in contact with the upper roll 10,and to maintain them in a fixed lateral relation with respect to saidroll the periphery of the roll may be provided with annular grooves 1313. Wires 14 14 are led from the several brushes 11 to the severalsegments 15 15 of a fixed commutator 16, said commutator having a brush17, carried upon an arm 18 and adapted to revolve in contact with thesegments 15. The current is carried from the brush 17 to a fixedconductive ring 19. The arm 18 is mounted upon the stud of the gear 7and is hence rotated in a predetermined relation to the roll 2. Thisrelation may be assumed to be six revolutions of the arm to one of theroll.

20 is a vertical shaft connected by mitergears 21 21 with the shaft ofthe roll 2, and hence rotating in a predetermined relation with saidshaft, which relation may be assumed to be one rotation of the shaft 20to one of the roll 2.

22 is an area-indicator mounted upon the machine-frame above the upperend of the shaft 20 and having a dial 23, graduated in suitable units ofarea, such as square feet, and a rotary pointer 24:, adapted to indicateupon said dial.

25 is an electromagnetic clutch adapted to connect or disconnect theshaft 20 with the shaft 26, upon which the pointer 24 is mounted.Secured to the rear end of the pointershaft 26 is a gear 27, meshingwith a pinion 28. at the lower end of which is a soft-iron disk 30.Mounted above said disk 30 is a second disk 31, secured by pins 32 to acup-shaped yoke or head 33, attached to the upper end of the shaft 20.The yoke 32 and disk 31 are therefore continuouslyrotated. The shaft 29passes centrally through the core 34 of a double magnet, whose upperwinding or helix is represented at 35 and the lower winding at 36. Oneof the poles of the upper magnet is at 37 on the end of the soft-ironcore 34 and the other pole is on the end of a soft-iron annulus 38,surrounding the winding 35. The poles of thelower magnet are atcorresponding points at 39 40 on the lower ends of said core andannulus. The iron disk 30 constitutes the armature of the lower magnet,and a second iron disk 41, secured to the shaft 29, constitutes thearmature of the upper magnet. The shaft 29 has a limited verticalmovement in its socket or bearing and is adapted to rotate therein. Thedisk 31 is made up of a soft-iron center 42, opposite the magnetpole 39,and a soft-iron ring or annulus 43, opposite the other pole 40, anannulus or ring 44 of a non-magnetic materiah'such as brass,

being interposed between the two. The effect of this arrangement is todirect the magnetic lines of force which tend to pass from one to theother of the poles 39 40 across through the iron parts of the disk 31into the armature-disk 30. The upper magnetic wound soas to be ofgreater strength than the-lower one, so that if an electric current isdivided between the magnets, part going through one magnet and partthrough another, with a common return, the influence of the upper magnetWill be the stronger and its armature 41 will be held down against thepoles. This prevents the shaft 29 from rotating and leaves the disk 31free from disk 30.

through the upper magnet-winding be shut oi, the armature 30 will belifted by magnetic attraction and held against the disk 31. The shaft 29will therefore be locked fric tionally with the shaft 20 and will rotatetherewith as though the two were rigid. As soon as the current isreestablished through the upper magnet the shaft 29 will again be freedand magnetically locked. By provid-' ing a double magnet, as abovedescribed, and passing'the current continuously through one end of itthe iron in the magnet is kept in a claim the construction of themagnetic clutch 25, as this is made the subject of another applic'ation,Serial No. 32,325, filed by me October 8, 1900.

45 represents a suitable source of electric Said pinion 28 is secured toa shaft 29,

If, however, that portion of the current which flows energy, such as abattery, from, one pole of which as the positive pole, a wire 46 is ledto abrush 47,which maintains continuous contact with the metallicsurface of the presserroll 10, and another Wire 48 is led to oneterminal of the lower magnet-winding or helix 36. The other terminal ofsaid winding connects with a wire 49, leading to the negative pole ofthe battery. One terminal of the upper magnet-winding or helix 35 isalso connected with the wire 49, and the other terminal of said windingis connected with a wire 50, leading from the stationary conductive-ring19 of the commutator. The current from the battery therefore passesthrough the wire 46, brush 47, roll 10, one of the brushes 11, thecorresponding wire 14, and the corresponding commutator-segment 15through the brush l7, conductive-ring 19, wire 50, helix 35, and wire 49back to the battery. Another portion of the current passes from thebattery through the wire 48, helix 36, and wire 49 back to the battery,this latter circuit being maintained closed at all times.

The operation is as follows: It may be assumed that the roll 2 has acircumference of one foot, or twelve inches, and that the brushes 11 areplaced at a distance of one inch apart. The web in being passed betweenthe rolls 2 10 will be propelled by frictional contact a distance of onefoot in one revolution of the roll 2. The roll 2 may therefore be saidto measure the dimension of length in the web, since any definiteportion of a revolution or number of revolutions is equivalent to aknown distance. The pointer 24 when positively geared with the roll 2 bythe operation of the clutch will have a movement proportional to themovement of the roll. The index is therefore operated positively orindependently of the web as to the dimension of length. The electricalconnections from the battery through the roll 10, the brushes 11,commutator-segments 15, and magnet-winding 35 constitu te a series ofelectric circuits whose terminals are adapted to be separated by thepassage of the web between the rolls 2 10. These circuits are renderedtemporarily operative in succession by the rotation of the brush 17,which establishes the circuit successively through the severalcommutator-segments corresponding to the several brushes 11. It has beenstated that the brush 17 rotates six times to one rotation of the roll2, or, in other words, the brush 17 rotates once while two lineal inchesof the web are passing between the rolls. So long as the current passesthrough any one of the brushes 11 or commutator-segments 15, the upperhelix 35 will be energized and the pointer 24 will remain stationary. Assoon, however, as the circuit through the helix 35 is entirely brokenthe pointer will be allowed to rotate proportionally with the rotationof the roll 2. We may imagine that the web which is being introducedbetween the rolls to be measured is divided into zones of two inches inlength parallel to the rolls and that these zones are divided off into aseries of small rectangles, each two inches long and one inch wide, eachrectangle therefore having an area of two square inches. In eachrevolution of the commutator-brush 17 the machine tests or feels everyone of the inch-wide rectangles in a zone two inches long and as wide asthe length of the rolls 2 10, each one of the brushes 11 correspondingto one of these rectangles. For every brush that is in contact with theroll 10 the circuit will remain complete and there will be no effect onthe indicator. For every brush that is held away from the roll 10 by thepresence of the web there will be a movement of the pointer 24,indicating two square inches on the dial. For each rotation of the brush17 the machine therefore sums up the number of square inches of surfacepresent on a zone of the web two inches in length. This summationproceeds as long as the web passes through the rolls, and at the end ofits passage there is a direct reading of the area of the web upon theindicator.

It is evident that the machine will measure the thinnest kind of a webwhich will separate the brushes 11 from the roll 10, and its results areof great accuracy, since the record does not depend upon the frictionalpropelling power which the surface of the web exerts upon any mechanism,but only upon the frictional draft of the propelling-rolls upon the web,which in practice can be made practically perfect or without anyslippage.

The pointer 24 is loosely mounted upon its shaft 26 and is held with afriction device 51 upon said shaft, so as to normally rotate with theshaft, but be capable of being turned back without rotating the shaft.The pointer is independently rotatable by means of a knob or hub 52attached to it. In operating the machine the pointer 24 is started atzero for each web and is turned back after the reading-indicating thearea of a web has been observed.

The term commutator used herein obviously does not mean a device tochange the direction of currents as used in dynamos and motors, but isemployed in its secondary sense, meaning a table of insulated contacts,which are usually arranged in a form similar to the ordinary motor ordynamo commutator.

I claim-- 1. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, anarea-indicator, web-propelling means operated synchronously with saidindicator by positive connecting mechanism,and means controlled by theunits of breadth in the web and controlling the operation of saidinclicator.

'2. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, web-propellingmeans,an area-indicator, provisions for operating said indicatorsynchronously with the propelling means, and a series of electriccircuits controlled by the web and controlling said provisions.

3. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, a web-propellingmeasuring-roll, a member operated synchronously wit h said roll, anarea-indicator, and a clutch adapted to connect said member with theindicator and controlled selectively by the units of breadth in the web.

4.. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, web-propelling means,a member operated synchronously therewith, an area-indicator, aneleetromagneiin clutch adapted to connect said member with theindicator, and a series of electric circuits controlled by the web andcontrolling said clutch.

5. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, web-propelling means, aseries of electric circuits corresponding to units of breadth andcontrolled by the web, an area-indicator controlled by said circuits andhaving a scale of numerical symbols representing areas, and anindicating member to successively register with said symbols, and meansto render said circuits temporarily operative in succession throughperiods synchronous with those of the web-propelling means.

6. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, a web-propellingmeasuring-roll, aseries of electric circuits corresponding to units ofbreadth and controlled by the web, an areaindicator controlled by saidcircuits, and a commutator controlling the circuits and having a brushrotated in synchronism with said roll.

7. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, web-propelling means, amember operated synchronously therewith, an area-indicator, anelectromagnetic clutch adapted to connect said member with theindicator, a series of electric circuits corresponding to units ofbreadth, said circuits being controlled by the web and controlling theclutch, and means to render said circuits temporarily operative throughperiods bearing a predetermined relation to the travel produced in theweb.

8. In a machine for measuring the area of a Web, a web-propelling measuring-roll, a member operated synchronously therewith, an area indicator,an electromagnetic clutch adapted to connect said member with theindicator, a series of electric circuits corresponding to units ofbreadth, said circuits being controlled by the web and controlling theclutch, and a commutator controlling the circuits and havinga brushrotated in synchronism with said roll.

9. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, an area-indicator,web-propelling means operated synchronously with said indicator bypositive connecting mechanism, and a series of electric circuitscontrolling the operation of said indicator, said circuits havingterminals arranged according to units of breadth and adapted to beseparated by the moving web.

10. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, web-propelling means,a member 0perated synchronously therewith, an area-indicator, a seriesof electric circuits having terminals arranged according to units ofbreadth and adapted to be separated by the moving web, anelectromagnetic clutch device controlled by the circuits and adapted toconnect said member with the indicator only when a current passesthrough some one of the circuits, and means to render said circuitstemporarily operative in succession through periods synchronous withthose of the propelling means.

11. In a machine for measuring the area of a web, a web-propelling,measuring-roll, a series of electric circuits having terminals arrangedin a series at unit intervals lengthwise of said roll, and anarea-indicator controlled by said circuits and having a scale ofnumerical symbols representing areas, and an indi- In testimony whereofI have affixed my sig- 3o nature in presence of two Witnesses.

ERL V. BEALS.

Witnesses:

. R. M. PIERsoN,

P. W. PEZZETTI.

